Youth Money Map - Google Sheet Spec
Design Principle
The sheet should feel simple enough for a 13-year-old to use and structured enough for a parent to trust.
No external account connections. No hidden formulas that make the family nervous. The parent controls sharing.
Tabs
1. Start Here
Purpose: orientation and current status.
Fields:
- Child name
- Parent owner
- Setup date
- Current total money
- Give bucket
- Save bucket
- Spend bucket
- Goals in progress
- Next child action
- Next parent action
2. Money Map
Purpose: one clean summary of all money.
Columns:
- Bucket
- Current amount
- Target amount
- Available to spend?
- Parent approval needed?
- Notes
Suggested buckets:
- Giving
- Long-term savings
- Big goal
- Spending
- Parent-held cash
- Bank account
- Gift cards
3. Gift Tracker
Purpose: bar mitzvah / birthday / simcha gift tracking.
Columns:
- Date received
- From
- Gift type
- Amount
- Thank-you note status
- Allocated to giving
- Allocated to savings
- Allocated to spending
- Notes
4. Goals And Buckets
Purpose: teach planning before spending.
Columns:
- Goal
- Why I want it
- Cost
- Saved so far
- Still needed
- Priority
- Parent approved?
- Decision date
- Final decision
5. Parent Review
Purpose: light accountability without lecturing.
Columns:
- Review date
- What changed?
- Good decision made
- Decision to revisit
- Parent note
- Child next action
- Parent next action
Visual Style
- Keep five tabs only for v1.
- Use green for money added, red for money spent, blue for savings, gold for giving.
- Freeze the header row.
- Use dropdowns for status fields.
- Do not over-dashboard the first version.
Template Build Order
- Build the five tabs.
- Add formulas for totals and remaining goal amounts.
- Add dropdowns for approval and thank-you status.
- Add one dashboard-like top block on Start Here.
- Add sample rows that can be deleted during setup.